We’re friends, yeah? And you know how much I love to encourage, lift, and empower your faith from week to week, right? Well, I believe our relationship is so solid that you won’t mind a little gentle nudge from me this week. Ok, here goes…How long are you going to mope over the good old days?

Don’t get me wrong, God is never afraid of a good lament, and we all feel the ache from grief and loss at times because life can change so rapidly. I understand that the process of healing from past wounds is vitally important to the future of our Christian walk. But if you’re finding those despondent and discouraging thoughts that keep rattling around in your head have recently gained the upper hand, keeping you continually looking back at what was instead of moving into the future God has for you, then perhaps it’s time to turn things over to God, fill your flask with anointing oil and get going.

Responsible faith allows room to breathe and space to grow as we learn to progress through the seasons. However, sometimes as believers, we need a good spiritual kick in the ‘you-know-what’ if we’re to keep moving forward into what God has for us. Maybe God needs to get some divine momentum happening again in our faith in 2022 so that it curbs our bent on those sentimental feelings over what worked before the pandemic hit us right between the eyes? Because God only knows, looking back can leave us in a spin cycle of idolising the past, and then we’ll miss the anointing on what God wants to do in our future if we’re not careful.   

In 1 Samuel 16:1, God didn’t allow the prophet, Samuel, to grieve over His rejection of Saul to escalate. ‘God addressed Samuel: “So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I’ve rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I’ve spotted the very king I want among his sons.” 

Samuel had been instrumental in the rise of Saul’s reign, and now he was broken-hearted because Saul had become a woeful, disobedient king who had allowed people’s opinions to rule his decisions instead of listening to the wise counsel of the prophet sent by God. “How long will you mourn over Saul?” God asks him. In other words, “Samuel, you need to stop grieving over the past, fill your flask, because I’m ready to anoint the future. Now get going!”  

If we are to learn anything from this passage in 1 Samuel 16:1, it’s this; we need to live expectantly as believers and look toward the future. Learning from the past is very different to living in it. We cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in the former things that God’s done, else we’ll stagnate in our vision and eventually in our faith, missing out on the new things He’s doing. If Samuel had not listened to God and kept grieving over the past then David, the shepherd boy, would have never been anointed as the next king of Israel. Imagine all those beautiful Psalms we would have missed out on! 

God knows He has to keep our eyes looking forward because that’s how we flourish. It’s our enemy who thrives on the past. Mainly our past. Like, our past mistakes, past regrets, and past failures. They allow him to chalk up his list of scheduled plans, knowing it will keep us padlocked to our past instead of living in the freedom Jesus died for. 

Isaiah 43:19 is one of my favourite verses because it’s God speaking life into our future. “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the Badlands.”   

I believe God wants to do something brand-new in all our lives, but we need to fill up our flasks with anointing oil and get going. Perhaps 2022 means setting some new goals that will fill up your flask? Maybe it’s pouring some oil that will lubricate the dream God placed in your heart? Or it could be you’ve prayed long enough in 2021 and now it’s time to get going! 

Stop looking back at the good old days before this pandemic happened. God is still on the throne and He’s still sovereign and He still hasn’t changed His plans for you, even though you feel everything has changed. He wants to anoint your future with His anointing oil. He wants to show you something brand-new because… 

It’s bursting out!

Don’t you see it?

There it is! 

C’mon, fill your flask with anointing oil and get going! 

Wendy xo 

Have you been tempted to keep looking back into the past? What have you learned from the past and how are you keeping your flask filled with anointing oil for the future? 

I pray today, that all the grief, loss and regrets from your past will have no more hold over your future. I pray for a new anointing, a fresh oil from God to be poured out upon your life that gives you the confidence to step into the future God has promised for you.